Violence against asylum seekers: More than 500 attacks in the first half of the year
Coercion, physical harm, incitement: Asylum seekers in Germany are repeatedly the target of verbal or physical attacks. Regional differences are striking.
Refugees are often victims of attacks.
Source: dpa
The police registered 519 attacks on refugees and asylum seekers across Germany in the first half of 2024. This is according to a response from the federal government to a minor inquiry from the Left Party group in the Bundestag, which was made available to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (NOZ). Specifically, it concerns crimes such as incitement to hatred, coercion and dangerous bodily harm.Communities like Kevelaer are under constant pressure: the number of refugees has risen significantly more than the number of accommodations since 2022. Where should the refugees live?29.07.2024 | 2:51 min
In these incidents, which took place outside refugee shelters, 46 people were injured, including six children, according to the response, which was also made available to the German Press Agency. The majority of the attacks – 456 in total – are attributed by the police to the right-wing scene.
In addition, according to statistics, there were 69 attacks on refugee shelters. In the first half of 2023, investigators registered 1,155 attacks on refugees, and 2,450 in the whole of last year.
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Numerous attacks in Saxony and Thuringia
According to information from NOZ, the regional focus of the attacks is in Saxony and Thuringia, where state elections will take place on September 1. According to the report, of the 286 attacks on refugees nationwide in the second quarter of 2024, most occurred in Saxony (41) and Thuringia (35). This was followed by Bavaria (31), Lower Saxony (30) and Brandenburg (29).
It has long been known that there is a close connection between racist slogans issued by politicians and racist mobilizations and attacks on the streets.
Clara Bünger, Left Party Member of the Bundestag
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“When right-wingers in parliament demand ‘remigration’ and even members of the government blame refugees for all kinds of social problems, announce deportations ‘on a large scale’ or even describe asylum seekers as invaders, as happened in Great Britain, racists feel empowered to hunt people down and terrorize refugees,” says Bünger.
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Source: dpa